UN draft resolution urges probe into Syria’s gas attack

Posted on April 12, 2017

A new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution drafted by Britain, France and the US has called for an investigation into a suspected chemical attack in Syria.

According to Press TV, British Ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft said in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday that the resolution would require “full cooperation with the investigation” of a purported gas attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria’s Idlib Province on April 4 that killed over 80 people.

Last week, the UNSC discussed three separate draft texts proposed by London, Paris and Washington, but failed to vote on any of the measures.

The new motion is the revised version of last week’s texts that condemned the Khan Shaykhun incident and demanded a full investigation into it.

A senior council diplomat said he expected a vote on the revised draft resolution in the coming days.

“We cannot give up and we must try, in good faith, the best we can, to have a text condemning the attack, asking for a thorough investigation,” said French Ambassador to the UN Francois Delattre.

Western countries rushed to blame the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad for the Khan Shaykhun incident without providing any evidence to support their accusations.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said that Damascus did not and would not use chemical arms, even against terror outfits. He also noted that the Syrian military had carried out an airstrike on a depot where terrorists stored chemical weapons.